


The One where Trance's Botany Expertise came in Handy

by karrenia_rune



Category: Andromeda (TV)
Genre: Cryptids, Fic or Treat Meme, Gen, High Guard, Pre-Series, Rain Forests, The Commonwealth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6965911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karrenia_rune/pseuds/karrenia_rune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pretty much what it says on the tin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One where Trance's Botany Expertise came in Handy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scribblemyname](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblemyname/gifts).



Disclaimer: Andromeda belongs to Tribune Entertainment and Fireworks Productions as do all of the characters who appear here or are mentioned.  
They are not mine. Written for scribblemyname's request in the 2016 My Old Fandoms Exchange.

Disclaimer: Andromeda belongs to Tribune and Fireworks Entertainment as do the characters who appear here or are mentioned.  
Set well before the events of the series. 

"The One where Trance's Expertise in Botany comes in Handy" 

It should probably come as no secret to anyone among her makeshift crew that their captain hated being planet-side. After spending most of her childhood and young adult life among ships Beka had developed a visceral emotional response to being planet-side. 

Rev Bem, their resident Wayist, actually seemed to be enjoying himself and did not show any signs of suffering from the humidity in that long robe and heavy fur. In fact, he almost seemed to be relishing it. Beka, if her need to present a dignified front in front of crew, might have stuck her tongue at him or punched him in the shoulder; almost.

Instead she turned from regarding Rev Bem to glancing at her other two crew-members. Seamus Zelazny Harper, who seemed to constantly dress like a scarecrow caught in a rainstorm was ambling alongside the Wayist and tracking device in one hand and absently swatting away the hovering gnat-like insects that seemed inclined to find each person's tenderest spot and mine it for it all it was worth.  
In Harper's case, the insects kept going for the side of his neck where he had a data port implanted.

The last member of their walking party was Trance Gemini. The youngest, at least Beka thought so, and the most naive among them. The humidity in the air also appeared not to affect her in any way other than to give her purple-hued skin an iridescent shine. 

"Well, good for them," she muttered under her breath.

This world was near the center of the sprawling Crab Nebula and had a decent atmosphere, although as planets went she would have preferred one that had been more technology-advanced. If that had been the case then they wouldn't have needed to land the Eureka Maru at one of the only two serviceable spaceports, pay the exorbitant docking fee, and make arrangements for supplies and gear and hike their way into the damn jungle.  
Even the locals knew better and clustered their cities and villages around the coastal regions.

"Hey, boss,"! Harper cried, I think we're getting closer to the objective."

"I want to believe you, but you said that three hours ago, and wound up making a huge circuit around that river that overflowed."

"Cut me some slack, Boss," retorted Harper, "that wasn't entirely my fault, for one thing, these folks make maps the way they make woven baskets, like a drunken fool. Secondly, I had a devil of a time getting their existing old technology to mash-up with my cutting-edge technology."

"I think he's right," interjected Trance mildly.

"What" demanded Beka. "How do you know that?"

"Because I can feel it," she replied.

"Great, just great. I just hope that this relic of the Old High Guard is worth all of this trouble."

Harper put his tracking Padd back into one of the many pockets of his bright orange cargo pants and fell into line as they continued forward.

Within a half an hour of walking they came upon the source of the energy transmissions.

Just as Rev Bem was about to blunder into the clearing Trance saw that her friend was about to be caught by a cluster of very large and very carnivorous cryptid or Man-Eating Trees. The plants with their toothy apertures spread wide lanced out on its thick stems and made a grab for the Wayist. 

Acting with more speed than anyone might have thought possible, Trance cried out in warning to her friend, caught hold of a trailing sleeve and snatched him away from the dangerous flora before they could make him a mid-day snack.

"What was that?" Rev asked, a bit rattled.

"A Cryptid," they're very rare and only to be found in remote areas of more temperate climes. Also, I am not entirely certain that their presence here is a coincidence."

"Do you think someone went to all the trouble of tracking these things, cutting them up and transporting the seedlings all the way out to this miserable mud-hole, just so, what," Harper asked as he scratched at a fierce itch along his flank. "To act as sentries?"

Trance cocked her head to one side as she thought this over, before she replied, "It's possible. "I think it would be difficult to keep a manned security force out here and with the monsoon seasons so common in this eco-system the Cryptids would thrive and blend in with the rest of the native flora and fauna."

"Okay, if what you're saying is true, then how do we get past them?" asked Beka.

"We have machetes, which came in handy a while ago to clear the trail," Trance said, although I don't like the idea of harming them; they're a very rare and endangered species."

"I've got no problem endangering them," Harper griped.

Trance darted forward and grabbed the engineer's forearm. "No, Harper, you must not!"

Harper looked Trance in the eyes and then down to her small hand on his arm, and some of the bluster went out of him, in a whisper, he said, "Okay, okay, Trance, we won't hurt them, but how do we get our hands on that blasted High Guard relic?"

"Do we still have some of that rope?" Rev Bem asked. There's what appears to be a solidly constructed lintel of the edifice that I judge to be sturdy enough to support us if we go one at a time."

"You want to rig up a grappling hook?" Beka replied, and then go over them?"

"That's a general idea,'" the Wayist replied.

"Okay, let's do it."

Trance went first, then Beka, then Harper and Rev Bem remained behind to act as guard.

**  
Once on the threshold of the old building; it might once have been a temple of some sort, or maybe it was made to look one by the fallen Commonwealth when they had gone in for emulating classical architectural styles of Old Earth; in any case, the elusive prize was within their grasp.

Beka marched forward with confident strides and pushed aside the slab of marble that had been the door. Inside the stifling air of the jungle was much less noticeable. It was cool if a bit stuffy. Beka had kind of expected it to be that and only sneezed once or twice, after all, the Commonwealth and all its effects had fallen over three hundred years ago.

She was followed in by Trance and then Harper, and in a bunch went to the center of the room. In a glass case lay a plaque that "Awarded to Captain Dylan Hunt for Notable and Distinguished Service, above and beyond the Call of Duty: in this year of the Commonwealth, the dates that it had been issued were almost illegible, so covered with dust and grit.

"All right, let's grab and get out of here. I for one, can't wait to be back aboard the Maru."

"It's just a plaque?" Harper muttered sounding a bit bewildered. "And who the heck is Dylan Hunt, never heard of him before now."

Beka grabbed a laser-cutter and cut into the case and removed the plaque and that done placed both plaque and tool back into her satchel which she had carried strapped to her back. "Who cares, if we play our cards right somebody out there will pay us a ton of galactic credits for this thing. Let's go home."


End file.
